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Sylvia Robinson (1936-2011)

Sylvia Robinson in High School (Dan Charnas, The Big Payback)Sylvia Vanderpool Robinson — the woman who produced the first commercially successful hip-hop record and perhaps the first female record producer in history — died this morning of heart failure. She was 75. (I know that some accounts have her birthday in 1938, not 1936, but from family accounts I believe the earlier date is true).

I covered Sylvia’s life extensively in The Big Payback, and I will likely have some more thoguhts to share on this occasion shortly. But until then, here are some vital links:

Sylvia Robinson information page on this site

Sugar Hill information page on this site

Sylvia Robinson wikipedia page

Earliest account of Sylvia Robinson’s death

Mark Anthony Neal’s remembrance